Clock dial and mechanism



ay 1940.. c. o. TIDLER 2,202,438 CLOCK um. AND uncmmrsu Filed May 13, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

CLOCK DIAL Filed May 13. 1938 TIDLER AND MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 z 10 14 a 11 v 1.1 ii

c. 0. Ta ler INVEN TOR.

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ATTORNEYS.

May 28, 1940. c. o. TIDLER CLOCK DIAL AND MECHANISM Filed May 13. 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

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' ATTORNEYS.

I May 28, 1940. J c. o. TIDLER 2,202,433

CLOCK DIAL AND MECHANISM Filed May'l3, 1938 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

. Patented May 28, 1940 "This invention relates to improvements in a clock dials and mechanism associated therewith for indicating the time of day or night in any part of the world, and for-indicating upon the clock dial that daylight, and the part of the world which is darkened by night I An object of my invention is to 'providean improved clock dial and mechanism for operatpart of the world, and the parts of the -'world 6-6 of Figure 5.

'Likecharacters of reference are used through-z ing-the same, which will indicate the time in any which are in darkness or' having daylight, and further means for indicating the variations in sunlight with respect to the parts of the world i in accordance with the various seasons of the year. A still further object of my invention is to provide an improved clock dial and operating mechanism thereforwhich will. indicate the time in the Various parts of the world, and which will indicate the parts of the world having daylight and the parts of the world having night, and the variations of light and dark caused, byth'e variatio'ns of the seasons of the year; together with means for automatically adding an extra day to every fourth year due to leap year.

Another 'object of myinvention is to provide animproved clock dial and operating mechanism therefor which will be driven by a suitable mechanism,-such as a spring motor oran electricmotor, and which will behighly efiicient in operation, and relatively. inexpensiveto produce.

" Other objects of my invention will appear as the description proceeds;

-In the accompanying drawings which form a part of my application, v

Figure 1 is a perspective-view" of themecha- 'nism for causing the variations 'in sunlight due to the seasonal changes of the year; '7

Figure 2 is a-front elevation of my'improved 'cl'ock dial; I I

1 Figure 3 is -a partial verticalfsectional view through my improved clock. dial andoperating mechanism associatedtherewith;

Figure 4 is a partial transverse sectional view through the clock mechanism showing the driving motor, the year drum and themeans for rotating the clock dial;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail View of the, cam operated mechanism for adding an extra'day to the year every fourth year; and

Figure 6isa sectional out the following specification and the accompan'ying drawings to .parts. I

part of the worldwhich is having View taken on'the line In carrying out my invention I provide a clock casing 'or frame I in: which vis'disposed a spring or electric motor) 2 for driving. the mechanism. Mounted in the upper portion'of the frame I'i's a clock dial.3, on which is positioned a'map of the world, the North Pole being positioned in the exact center of the said clock dial, and the countriesbelow the Equator bein'g'shown somewhat distorted. The clock dial 3kfn-ay be made from any transparent material,;andis formed with an annular ring-shape body portiorljiland an internal ring gear-5.] An annular guiding flange 6 is formed about the body 4 and is arranged to Contact the grooved hearings or bearingroller '1 carried'by' the frame I. Disposed about the dial 3 andcircumferentially thereof, I have pro-'- vided the time ring 8, theinnerportion thereof being providedwithindicia for'use in reading the time where there aretwelve hours from midnight to noon, and twelve hours from noon to 'rni'dnight, and the outer portion of the ring is provided with indici'a where the time is divided into twenty-four hours as distinguished from twelve hours daylight and twelve hours of night. The time ring 8 is'made from transparent material, and issuitably supported on the frame I in front of'the clock dial'3. r i The dial 3 is provided with'linies radiating from the center. thereof, the lines extending through designate corresponding the center of each time zone of thedial and terf.

minating adjacent to the numbers formed on dial 3 at the edge thereof. 'To determine time, the 1 outer end cf any particular line is considered, and the point wh'ere theparticular line terminates with respect 'to ring 8," indicates time.

.' ;A horizontal partition 9 is positioned within the frame or housing I, and supports the depending brackets Ill and II which support the shaft .I2 upon which the wormgear I3 is mounted, and also the pinion M. The brackets I5 and I 6 are positioned below the partition 9, and support the shaft I! which extends at right angles'to the shaft I2, and which supports the worm gear I8 which meshes 'With the pinion I4, and also the toothed-wheel I9 which isengaged by the trips pingfinger 20 driven by'the motor 2.

The shaft I2 also carries atits outer end a gear 2| which engages the internal ring gear 5 on the clock dial, and causes the rotationthere-.

f Positionedwithin the clock casing I and supported upontheinverted V-bracket" 22, Igjhave provided arotatable year drum 23 which issup? ported upon the cross shaft 24 and is provided around its periphery with the external ring gear 25. As will be seen from the drawings the rotatable year drum is split as at 26 and is provided with a spoke 21. The brackets 28 and 29 supported below the partition 9 support a shaft 36 upon which is carried the worm gear 3|, which engages and meshes with the external ring gear 25 on the said year drum 23, and serves to rotate the same one complete revolution in every year.

The mechanism for adding the extra day every fourth year of operation of the clock due to leap year will be now described in detail. Disposed upon the rotatable year drum at either side of the slot or break 26, I have provided a pairof parallel depending arms 34 between which the spoke 21 is positioned. Mounted adjacent the end of the spoke 21 and extending therethrough, is a shaft 35 upon which are mounted at its opposite ends, the oppositely disposed cams 36 and 31. Also on the end of the shaft 35 I have provided a hub 38 formed with four radially extending trip arms 39, which are adapted to cooperate with and to be engaged by the trip finger 40 secured to the inverted V-bracket 22.

Since the drum 23 is constructed of metal having yieldable qualities, the spring tension of the drum will cause the drum to return to its normal position when the pressure at the ends of the split portion of the drum has been relieved, or when the cams 36 and 31 have been moved to their normal positions.

For the variations of sunlight due to the seasons of the year, I have provided a mechanism which consists of a pair of bearings 4| and 42 between which is supported the shaft 43, and the curved member 44. The bracket 45 will support in its slotted upper end, a bell crank lever 46, which supports a socket and an electric light bulb 41 on its shorter end, and a perforated mask or plate 48 on its longer end. The mask 48 is adapted to support a lever 49 which cooperates with the cam 50 on the shaft 43. The beveled gear 5| is mounted upon the end of the saidshaft 43 and cooperates with and engages the beveled gear 52 supported upon the vertically mounted shaft 53, which in turn is supported by the bracket 54 upon the partition 9. A beveled gear 55 is disposed upon the lower end of the shaft 53 and engages the beveled gear 56 mounted upon the end of the shaft 24 mounted in the inverted V-bracket 22, which also supports the rotatable year drum 23.

It will be understood that the clock dial rotates one revolution every twenty-four hoursl The Y toothed wheel I9 is provided with sixty teeth and is operated by the tripping finger 20 every second, thereby rotating one revolution every minute. The shaft I2 and pinion [4 carried thereby rotate one revolution per hour, and the year drum rotates one revolution every year.

The operation of my improved clock dial and operating mechanism is as follows: Upon starting the motor 2, the tripping finger 25 engages the toothed wheel !9 and trips the same once every second causing a complete revolution of thesaid wheel l9 every minute. The pinion l4 mounted upon the shaft I 2 being driven by the worm gear it on the shaft I1 is caused'to be rotated one turn or revolution every hour and the worm gear I3 on the shaft l2 meshing with the pinion 33 causes the same to rotate one complete revolution every day. Likewise, the clock worm gear 3| on the shaft which coacts with and drives the external ring gear 25 on the rotatable year drum 23, will cause the said year drum to rotate once for every year of operation of the clock mechanism. As the year drum 23 rotates, the trip arm 39 engages the trip finger 49 and causes the cams 36 and 31 to be rotated against the depending arms 34, thus spreading the split year drum 23 to provide as it were for an extra tooth in the ring gear 25 thus making provisions for the added day every fourth year caused by leap year.

The gear connections between the year drum 23 and the shaft 43 which carries the curved member 44 rotates the shaft 43 and member 44 one complete revolution in every year. Thus it will be seen that the beam of light from the lamp bulb 41 will be intercepted by the said member 44 so as to cast a shadow on the clock dial to darken a portion of the said dial, thus simulating that portion of the world which is in darkness, and the portion of the world which is having daylight. As small direct beam from the center of the double filament light bulb 41 will be projected upon the clock face, at 51 to represent the position of the sun with respect to the various portions of the earths surface. The cam 50 and operating arms 49 carried by the mask 48 tilt the lamp bulb 41 and cooperate with the rotatable member 44 to' provide the proper effect or shading over the clock face to simulate the darkened portion of the earths surface.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that I have devised a highly efficient form of clock face and mechanism for operating various elements to accurately disclose at a glance the exact time in any portion of the world, and to disclose at a glance what portion of the earths surface is in darkness, and what portion is in daylight. I

It will be understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the specific construction as described in the specification and illustrated in the drawings, as many minor changes in detail of construction may be resorted to without departure from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination with a clock having a casing, a dial rotatably mounted therein, time indicia about the dial, means for rotating said dial, said rotating means embodying a split ring gear and means adapted to spread the ends of the split ring gear at predetermined intervals increasing the diameter of the ring gear and compensating'for the extra day every fourth year due to leap year, and means for rotating the ring gear.

2. In combination with a clock having a casing, a dial rotatably mounted therein' and having indicia representing the earth surface thereon, time indicia disposed about said dial, a lamp adapted to direct light rays onto the dial, a screen member disposed between the lamp and dial and adapted to screen a portion of the light rays from the dial, indicating the portion of the earth surface in darkness.

3. In combination with a clock having a casing, a dial rotatably mounted therein and having indicia representing the earth surface thereon, time indicia disposed about said dial, a lamp adapted to direct light rays onto the dial, an adjustable screening member disposed in the path of light rays from the lamp and adapted to time indiciadisposed about said clock, means shade a portion of the dial indicating the portion of the earths surface in darkness, and means for gradually moving the adjustable screen in the path of travel of the light rays, said operating means embodying arms extending from the screen and a rotary cam contacting with the arms for moving the arms vertica1ly.

4. In combination with avclock having a casing, a dial rotatably mounted therein and having 10 indicia representing the earth surface thereon,

for rotating said dial, a lamp adapted to direct light rays onto the dial illuminating a portion of the dial, said lamp directing a-spot light on one portion of the diaL and an adjustable screen into intercept light rays creating a shadow over a portion of the dial indicating the portion of the earths surface in darkness.

.. CHARLES OTIS TIDLER.

terposed between the lamp anddial and adapted I 

